Pumpkin Marshmallows

Fall is in the air. Pumpkins are out, halloween decorations are going up. I just convinced the hubby to let me put our scarecrow out in the front lawn.
The air is a wee bit cold now (ok, I'm in WI, it's frosting at night so super cold).
What is better than snuggling up to a hot cup of cocoa? Homemade marshmallows.
I'm serious, you don't know what a marshmallow is supposed to taste like until you've tried homemade ones. Throw out that bag of store bought crap that you have at home (okay, those are better for campfires) and chow down on these delicious creations.

Yes the recipe is in 2 parts. The instructions are long, but it really is just words/descriptions and not time.

The de-liquiding of the pumpkin. This is actually a vital step in this recipe. If you don't take out the extra moisture from the pumpkin, you marshmallows will not be as light as airy.

So spread the pumpkin out on some paper towels, put more on top and blot away. Repeat.

Bubble, bubble sugar mixture. Bring to temp to get the marshmallows to set up correctly
(side note, be careful with your candy thermometer. I totally broke mine when I was washing it after this recipe.)

A little before/after shot for you. Look how fluffy and light the mix looks.
You will have some problems getting all the marshmallow off the whisk. It's quite sticky. Don't give up! And I bet when you start mixing in the pumpkin you are thinking, seriously this is never going to mix up. It takes about 5 -10 mins to incorporate it all.

  And spread in the pan. Again, this takes a minute or so to get really flat on top.

Look at the color difference from the fresh mix to the set marshmallows.

Finally, chop into whatever shape you want. You can be creative and use a pumpkin cookie cutter if you want, or cut into really small squares for hot cocoa mugs :)

(Yes there is a missing corner piece in my photo.

I had to try them right away just to be sure)

Mmmmm. Tasty.